Your best friend is MY best friend? Is that even allowed? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A breakup, bad work presentation, or family drama. Sometimes we just need to vent with our friends! We all need people to lean on. But why do some
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Do skyscrapers need. . . sunscreen? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s a concrete jungle out there, and a HOT one! Cooling big city skyscrapers with AC burns LOADS of energy. Could we save money and the environment by slathering buildings with sunscreen? Xiangyu
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Social butterfly… or social SHARK? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The shark in “Jaws” was depicted as a lone, ferocious predator. But could sharks actually have FRIENDS? Yannis Papastamatiou, David Jacoby and colleagues dove into shark-infested waters to find out. They put radio
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In your coffee — Sugar or Splenda? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Our bodies CRAVE sugar for energy. Artificial sweeteners and sugar activate our sweet-sensing taste buds. But substitutes like Splenda and Sweet n’ Low don’t fully satisfy us. Why is that? Hwei-Ee
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Smile, and the world smiles back? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying… Cheer up! You look so much better when flaunting those pearly whites. But does smiling REALLY lift our spirits? Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos from the University of South Australia and colleagues wondered. Does
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Just cuz all your friends are doing it…? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Teenage years: a time to try new things! For better or worse. Some stuff we learn from our parents, other stuff from friends. Dolphins are no different! Case in point? Shelling!
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Which came first? The chicken or the soft shelled egg? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. For ages it was believed that dinosaur eggs were hard shelled – like chicken eggs! But is there a crack in that theory? Mark Norell and colleagues from the
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It’s a truly brilliant world… for hummingbirds! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Pretty blues! Vibrant reds! We humans see colors because of special cells in our eyes called cones. Hummingbirds have an extra cone that detects UV light — light from the sun WE can’t see.
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Let’s play hide and seek… under the sea? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Dark, gloomy, and cold … it’s the deep sea! With only a little light filtering down, how do animals communicate? Shrimp use special body cells called photophores that light up. But these
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Do we all have an “evil twin?” This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We’re not proud of our flaws and dark tendencies. Yet, we may secretly cheer for villains like Loki or Lord Voldemort. Why do we fan-out over fictitious bad guys?! Rebecca Krause and
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